Hocbigg - Classics
Summary
The Classics curriculum is a complete education in Classics using online materials. This curriculum aims to cover the history, literature, languages, and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
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Introduction to Classical Studies
An orientation to the interdisciplinary scope, evidentiary methods, and cultural legacy of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
Classics: A Very Short Introduction (Mary Beard and John Henderson) - An engaging primer exploring how classicists investigate the ancient world through material artifacts, literary texts, and modern cultural reception.
The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian (Robin Lane Fox) - A sweeping narrative history that synthesizes the interconnected political and cultural trajectories of archaic Greece through imperial Rome.
Ancient Greek History
A survey of Greek political, military, and social institutions from the Bronze Age through the Classical polis and the Hellenistic kingdoms.
Introduction to Ancient Greek History (Open Yale Courses/Donald Kagan) - A complete 24-lecture university video course covering Greek history from the Mycenaean era through fourth-century Spartan hegemony.
An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander (Perseus Digital Library/Thomas R. Martin) - A free, structured digital textbook introducing political institutions, the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, and daily civic life.
Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History (Sarah B. Pomeroy et al.) - The standard academic textbook detailing archaic developments, Athenian democracy, Spartan society, and Hellenistic kingdoms.
Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (Thomas R. Martin) - An accessible print expansion of Martin's Perseus history providing a cohesive narrative for independent beginners.
Roman History
An examination of the Roman state from its archaic Italian foundations through the Republic, the Augustan Principate, and Late Antiquity.
The Ancient World: Rome (MIT OpenCourseWare/Will Broadhead) - An undergraduate course providing complete lecture slides, thematic syllabi, and primary source reading guides tracing Roman political evolution.
The Romans: From Village to Empire (Mary T. Boatwright et al.) - The premier academic survey textbook tracing Roman history from early settlements through the reign of Constantine.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Mary Beard) - An analytical narrative that examines Roman citizenship, political rhetoric, and everyday social life against traditional historiography.
Classical Mythology and Religion
An investigation of polytheistic belief systems, sacred rituals, divine pantheons, and mythic cycles across ancient Greece and Rome.
Greek and Roman Mythology (Coursera/University of Pennsylvania/Peter Struck) - A structured online course analyzing foundational classical myths alongside both ancient and modern interpretive frameworks.
Classical Mythology (Mark P. O. Morford, Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Sham) - A comprehensive textbook combining literary translations, comparative analysis, and artistic depictions of classical myth.
Theogony and Works and Days (Hesiod, trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White) - Free full-text public domain translations of the foundational archaic poems outlining the Greek divine succession and early agrarian moral worldview.
Greek Religion (Walter Burkert) - The seminal scholarly synthesis detailing Greek ritual sacrifice, hero cults, sanctuary spaces, and mystery religions.
Roman Religion (J. A. North) - A concise handbook examining Roman civic cults, divination practices, priestly colleges, and the integration of foreign deities.
Ancient Greek Literature
A survey of archaic, classical, and Hellenistic Greek literary genres, including epic poetry, Attic drama, and historical narrative.
The Ancient Greek Hero (HarvardX/Gregory Nagy) - A guided online course offering close literary readings of Homeric epic, lyric song, Attic tragedy, and Platonic dialogues.
The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (Harvard University/Center for Hellenic Studies/Gregory Nagy) - An open-access coursebook analyzing the major texts of classical Greek literature through the concept of the cult hero.
The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours: Sourcebook (Center for Hellenic Studies/Gregory Nagy, ed.) - A free primary source reader providing curated, modern translations of Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, the tragedians, and Plato.
The Iliad (The Internet Classics Archive/Homer, trans. Samuel Butler) - A free full-text translation of the foundational European epic capturing the heroic code and the wrath of Achilles; Richmond Lattimore's translation is the modern academic standard.
Classical Literature: A Concise History (Richard Rutherford) - An authoritative critical survey detailing genre evolution, performance contexts, and poetic style across Greece and Rome.
The Complete Greek Tragedies (David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, eds.) - The standard modern translation collection containing the extant dramatic works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War (Robert B. Strassler, ed.) - An annotated primary text edition featuring running summaries, maps, and technical appendices; Richard Crawley's unabridged translation is also freely available on The Internet Classics Archive.
Latin Literature
A critical study of canonical Roman literature from Republican oratory and drama to Augustan epic and Imperial historiography.
Latin Literature: A History (Gian Biagio Conte) - The standard single-volume critical survey exploring Latin authors, stylistic shifts, and genres from early comedy through late antiquity.
Literature in the Roman World (Oliver Taplin, ed.) - An accessible handbook contextualizing Roman literary production within imperial patronage, recital culture, and civic life.
The Aeneid (The Internet Classics Archive/Virgil, trans. John Dryden) - A free poetic translation of Rome's foundation epic exploring Trojan exile and Augustan destiny; Robert Fagles provides the benchmark modern verse translation.
Metamorphoses (Poetry in Translation/Ovid, trans. A. S. Kline) - A free, modern, and hyperlinked line-by-line translation of Ovid's mythic epic recounting mythical transformations from the cosmic creation to Julius Caesar.
Against Catiline (Perseus Digital Library/Cicero, trans. C. D. Yonge) - Free complete English translations of the four famous consular speeches exposing the Catilinarian conspiracy; Michael Grant's Penguin edition offers a broader selection of political speeches.
The Annals (The Internet Classics Archive/Tacitus, trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb) - A free unabridged translation of the foremost Roman historical critique of the Julio-Claudian emperors; J. C. Yardley's Oxford edition provides modern textual notes.
Classical Archaeology and Material Culture
An exploration of the architecture, sculpture, ceramics, and physical topography of the ancient Mediterranean basin.
Roman Architecture (Open Yale Courses/Diana E. E. Kleiner) - A 24-lecture university course examining Roman urban design, concrete vaulting, public monuments, and provincial infrastructure.
Roman Art and Archaeology (Coursera/University of Arizona/David Soren) - A structured online course surveying the physical remains, pottery, domestic spaces, and excavation methods of ancient Italy.
The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction (William R. Biers) - A foundational guide introducing the ceramics, temple orders, and sculptural phases of Greece from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic era.
Roman Art (Paul Zanker) - A concise, contextual analysis of Roman historical reliefs, private portraits, and visual propaganda in civic spaces.
Latin Language
Sequential instruction in Classical Latin grammar, syntax, morphology, and unadapted literary translation.
Lingua Latina per se Illustrata: Pars I: Familia Romana (Hans H. Ørberg) - An inductive reading method teaching Latin grammar and vocabulary directly through contextual Latin narrative prose without English translation.
Lingua Latina per se Illustrata: Pars II: Roma Aeterna (Hans H. Ørberg) - The intermediate sequel to Familia Romana, advancing syntactical fluency through continuous readings adapted directly from Roman historians.
Wheelock's Latin (Frederic M. Wheelock and Richard A. LaFleur) - The classic systematic grammar-translation textbook featuring clear paradigm charts, linguistic explanations, translation exercises, and adapted readings.
Latin Pronunciation and Spoken Latin Tutorials (YouTube/Luke Ranieri/ScorpioMartianus) - Free video lessons detailing Classical Latin phonology, vowel quantity, macrons, and spoken conversational phrasing.
College Latin Commentaries (Geoffrey Steadman) - Free downloadable intermediate guided readers containing unadapted texts from Caesar, Cicero, and Catullus with facing-page vocabulary and grammatical commentary.
Ancient Greek Language
Sequential instruction in Attic Greek alphabetics, morphology, syntax, and progressive textual reading.
Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek (Maurice Balme, Gilbert Lawall, and James Morwood) - A popular narrative-driven reading textbook that builds Attic Greek vocabulary and syntactic concepts through connected prose stories.
Introduction to Attic Greek (Donald J. Mastronarde) - A rigorous grammar-translation textbook providing exhaustive paradigms, morphology rules, and unadapted classical prose passages.
Ancient Greek Tutorials (AtticGreek.org/Donald J. Mastronarde) - Free interactive exercises providing audio pronunciation guides, accent drills, and morphology self-tests keyed to introductory Attic Greek.
College Greek Commentaries (Geoffrey Steadman) - Free downloadable student readers providing unadapted Attic texts by Plato, Lysias, and Xenophon with facing-page vocabulary and syntactical explanations.